Method and apparatus for managing communication exchanges

ABSTRACT

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, obtaining a message and an importance rating for the message where the importance rating is determined by a second communications management agent of a server based on an analysis of content of the message. The system can access rating feedback information associated with the second communications management agent. A rating accuracy for the importance rating of the particular message can be determined based on the rating feedback information, and the method of providing the message to the intended recipient can be adjusted based on the determined accuracy. Other embodiments are disclosed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/307,473 filed Nov. 30, 2011, the disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to communications and morespecifically to managing communication exchanges in a communicationsystem.

BACKGROUND

Users have access to numerous communication devices for accessinginformation and communicating with other users. As communicationtechnology continues to develop, the number of these types of devicesand their compatibility continues to grow.

The selection of a device to be utilized by a user is often determinedby practical considerations, such as which device is closest to theuser. The selection process can also be based on user preferences, suchas a user who prefers to engage in voice communications over textmessages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-2 depict illustrative embodiments of communication systems thatprovide communication services;

FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a web portal forinteracting with the communication systems of FIGS. 1-2;

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication deviceutilized in the communication systems of FIGS. 1-2;

FIGS. 5-6 depict illustrative embodiments of communication systems thatprovide communication services;

FIGS. 7-9 depict illustrative embodiments of methods operating inportions of the systems described in FIGS. 1-6; and

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the form of acomputer system within which a set of instructions, when executed, maycause the machine to perform any one or more of the methods discussedherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure describes, among other things, illustrativeembodiments for utilizing communications management agents to managemessages being exchanged between communication devices of variousentities or parties. The agents can be implemented using computerinstructions executed by one or more servers in communication withcommunication devices over a network. The message exchange can be basedon monitored information associated with the entities, includingpresence and scheduling data, as well as other information, such asbiometric data. The communications management agents can determinevarious criteria associated with the exchange of the messages, includinga time of delivery, a format for delivery and/or a communication deviceto receive delivery. In one or more embodiments, messages that originatein a first format from a sender can be received by the recipient in asecond, different format based on dynamic message handling rules thatare implemented by the communications management agent corresponding tothe recipient.

In one or more embodiments, importance ratings can be generated by thecommunications management agents to facilitate determining a process fordelivery of the message, such as a time, message format and recipientcommunication device. Importance ratings can be analyzed for theiraccuracy, and a history of ratings accuracy can be utilized for managingdelivery of subsequent messages.

In one or more embodiments, virtual task lists can be maintained for thevarious entities and task requests can be exchanged betweencommunication devices of entities, such as based on presence data,scheduling data, and/or a past history of performing tasks for eachother.

One embodiment of the present disclosure includes a first server of agroup of servers, where the first server includes a memory havingcomputer instructions and a controller circuit coupled to the memory.The controller circuit, when executing the computer instructions, canperform a method that comprises monitoring behavior informationassociated with a first user where the monitored behavior informationincludes presence data and scheduling data. The controller circuit canreceive a message from a first communication device of the first user,where the message is directed from the first user to a second user. Thecontroller circuit can analyze content of the message to determine asubject matter of the message and determine an importance rating of themessage based on the determined subject matter and the monitoredbehavior. The controller circuit can provide the message and theimportance rating to a second server of the group of servers that isexecuting computer instructions for a communications management agentthat is associated with the second user and that determines a time andmessage format for receipt of the message by a second communicationdevice of the second user based on the importance rating. The controllercircuit can receive a rating feedback based on a determination of anaccuracy of the importance rating for the message, where the ratingfeedback is utilized by at least some of the group of servers inanalyzing an accuracy of a second importance rating for a second messageprovided by the controller circuit.

One embodiment of the present disclosure is a system that includes atleast one server executing computer instructions to enable a firstcommunications management agent associated with a first user andexecuting the computer instructions to enable a second communicationsmanagement agent associated with a second user. The at least one server,when executing the computer instructions, can perform a method thatcomprises obtaining a message that originates from a secondcommunication device of the second user, where the message is directedto the first user. The at least one server can obtain an importancerating for the message, where the importance rating is determined by thesecond communications management agent based on an analysis of contentof the message. The at least one server can obtain rating feedbackinformation associated with a group of importance ratings generated bythe second communications management agent and to determine a ratingaccuracy of the importance rating for the message based on the ratingfeedback information. The at least one server can provide messageinformation representative of the message to a first communicationdevice of the first user according to the importance rating and thedetermined rating accuracy.

One embodiment of the present disclosure includes a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium having computer instructions which whenexecuted by at least one processor cause the at least one processor toperform a method that comprises receiving messages directed to a firstuser from a plurality of sources. The computer instructions enablemonitoring first behavior information associated with the first user,where the first monitored behavior information includes first presencedata and first scheduling data. The computer instructions enableanalyzing content of each of the messages. The computer instructionsenable generating a summary of each of the messages based on theanalysis of the content. The computer instructions enable determining atime, a message format and at least one first communication device fordelivering each of the generated summaries to the first user based onthe monitored first behavior information and the analysis of thecontent. The computer instructions enable adjusting a first virtual tasklist for the first user based on the analysis of the content. Thecomputer instructions enable obtaining second behavior informationassociated with a second user, where the second behavior informationincludes second presence data, second scheduling data and priorinteraction data. The prior interaction data can include informationassociated with tasks from a second virtual task list of the second userthat were performed by the first user. The computer instructions enableproviding a task message to a communications management agent of thesecond user according to the second behavior information, where the taskmessage requests performance by the second user of a task from the firstvirtual task list.

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a first communicationsystem 100 for providing communication services that can includedelivering messages and/or content to various communications devices.The communication system 100 can manage the delivery of communications(e.g., via a digital agent(s)) to one or more users based on variouscriteria, including monitored behavior of the sender and/or therecipient, importance ratings of the communications, analysis of thecontent of the communications, and so forth. The system 100 can providefor feedback on the importance ratings in order to improve the accuracyof ratings being generated. The exemplary embodiments herein refer toincoming messages, which can include any type of incomingcommunications, including voice communications, text messages, emailmessages, video conferencing, voice mail messages, social network posts,M2M alerts, calendar requests/management, content generally posted thatmay be of interest to the user, advertisements, and so forth.

The system 100 can provide for generating, adjusting and otherwisemanaging virtual task lists 163 for a group of users. Task requests canbe exchanged between users based on various criteria, includingscheduling data and presence data of the users. The task requests canalso be generated based on prior interaction data representing priortasks that were performed on behalf of other users.

The communication system 100 can represent an Internet ProtocolTelevision (IPTV) media system. The IPTV media system can include asuper head-end office (SHO) 110 with at least one super headend officeserver (SHS) 111 which receives content from satellite and/orterrestrial communication systems. In the present context, content canrepresent in whole or in part, for example, messages, text, audio,moving images such as 2D or 3D videos, video games, virtual realitycontent, still image content, and combinations thereof. The SHS server111 can forward packets associated with the media content to one or morevideo head-end servers (VHS) 114 via a network of video head-end offices(VHO) 112 according to a common multicast communication protocol.

The VHS 114 can distribute multimedia content, including messages and/orbroadcast content, via an access network 118 to commercial and/orresidential buildings 102 housing a gateway 104 (such as a residentialor commercial gateway). The access network 118 can represent a group ofdigital subscriber line access multiplexers (DSLAMs) located in acentral office or a service area interface that provide broadbandservices over fiber optical links or copper twisted pairs 119 tobuildings 102. The gateway 104 can use common communication technologyto distribute broadcast signals to media processors 106 such as Set-TopBoxes (STBs) which in turn present broadcast channels to media devices108 such as computers or television sets managed in some instances by amedia controller 107 (such as an infrared or RF remote control). Otherdata can be distributed to the media processors 106 via the gateway,including voice messages, text messages, voice communications, videoconferencing and combinations thereof. Other techniques and/orcomponents can be utilized for delivering communications, such asdescribed in U.S. application Ser. No. 13/307,127 entitled “Method AndApparatus For Managing Communication Inquiries” filed on Nov. 30, 2011by Tardelli et al., Attorney Docket No. 2011-0657_(—)7785-0901, thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

The gateway 104, the media processors 106, and/or media devices 108 canutilize tethered communication technologies (such as coaxial, powerlineor phone line wiring) or can operate over a wireless access protocolsuch as Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), Bluetooth, Zigbee, or other present ornext generation local or personal area wireless network technologies. Byway of these interfaces, unicast communications can also be invokedbetween the media processors 106 and subsystems of the IPTV media systemfor services such as video-on-demand (VoD), browsing an electronicprogramming guide (EPG), or other infrastructure services.

A satellite broadcast television system 129 can also be used in thesystem of FIG. 1. The satellite broadcast television system can beoverlaid, operably coupled with, or replace the IPTV system as anotherrepresentative embodiment of communication system 100. In thisembodiment, signals transmitted by a satellite 115 carrying mediacontent can be received by a satellite dish receiver 131 coupled to thebuilding 102. Modulated signals received by the satellite dish receiver131 can be transferred to the media processors 106 for demodulating,decoding, encoding, and/or distributing broadcast channels to the mediadevices 108. The media processors 106 can be equipped with a broadbandport to the ISP network 132 to enable interactive services such as VoDand EPG as described above.

In yet another embodiment, an analog or digital cable broadcastdistribution system such as cable TV system 133 can be overlaid,operably coupled with, or replace the IPTV system and/or the satelliteTV system as another representative embodiment of communication system100. In this embodiment, the cable TV system 133 can also provideInternet, telephony, and interactive media services.

The embodiments of the present disclosure can apply to otherover-the-air and/or landline media content services system.

Some of the network elements of the IPTV media system can be coupled toone or more computing devices 130, a portion of which can operate as aweb server for providing web portal services over an Internet ServiceProvider (ISP) network 132 to wireline and/or wireless devices,including media devices 108 and/or portable communication devices 116.

Multiple forms of media services can be offered to media devices overlandline technologies in communication system 100 such as through thedevices and/or techniques described above. Additionally, media servicescan be offered to media devices by way of a wireless access base station117 operating according to common wireless access protocols such asGlobal System for Mobile or GSM, Code Division Multiple Access or CDMA,Time Division Multiple Access or TDMA, Universal MobileTelecommunications or UMTS, World interoperability for Microwave orWiMAX, Software Defined Radio or SDR, Long Term Evolution or LTE, and soon. Other present and next generation wide area wireless networktechnologies are contemplated by the present disclosure. Communicationsystem 100 can also provide for all or a portion of the computingdevices 130 to function as a communications management server (hereinreferred to as server 130). The server 130 can use common computing andcommunication technology to perform function 162, which can includeamong things, implementing a communications management agent for one ormore users of system 100 to manage communications associated with theuser(s), including incoming communications and outgoing communications.The exemplary embodiments can utilize any number of servers 130 whichcan implement any number of communications management agents 162. Theagents 162 can be executed for each user individually or can be sharedamongst users, such as amongst a related group (e.g., family members).

In one or more embodiments, the server 130 can enable differentcommunications management agents 162 to interact with each other as anintermediary in a process for delivering messages between users that areassociated with the particular agents. In one or more embodiments, thecommunications management agents 162 can monitor behavior or otherwiseobtain behavior information for a corresponding user with which theagent is associated. For instance, communication devices can havesoftware for providing behavior information to the agent 162, such asgateway 104, media processors 106, media devices 108 and/or mobiledevices 116 having software 164 for providing information, includingpresence data, scheduling data and/or biometric data, to thecommunications management agent 162.

In one or more embodiments, the communications management agents 162 canactively monitor for devices of the user from which informationassociated with the user can be retrieved. The active monitoring caninclude numerous techniques such as interaction with the user to requestinput as to various devices that the user utilizes. For instance, a usercan identify devices and software applications (e.g., social networks)that the user utilizes, and the communications management agents 162 canthen communicate with those identified devices and software to establisha dataflow. The provisioning of the communications management agent 162with the potential sources of information can be done through use of aprovisioning GUI that can provide questions and input fields for theuser. The provisioning can be done via other methods, includingdetection of devices in proximity to the user (e.g., detecting wirelesssignal) and determining whether the device can be used for obtaininginformation associated with the user.

The active monitoring of the communications management agent 162 canalso include analyzing other information associated with the user todetermine whether new devices or software are being utilized by theuser. For example, electronic billing of a user can be analyzed todetermine that an electronic device or software has recently beenpurchased which may be able to provide behavior information. Theprovisioning process can include determining the potential sources andcommunicating with the potential sources to establish a dataflow so thatthe information or monitored behavior can be received from the variousdevices by the communications management agent 162.

In one or more embodiments, communications management agents 162 enableprocessing of incoming communications (e.g., voice or text messagesand/or voice communications) to determine how the incomingcommunications are to be processed such as according to dynamic handlingrules that are being adjusted based on various information, includingthe monitored behavior information of the recipient and/or the sender.The dynamic handling rules enable the server 130 to manage the deliveryof messages to users based on all or a portion of information availablethat is related to the recipient of the messages and/or the sender ofthe messages. The dynamic handling rules can determine timing ofprocessing messages including processing it immediately, delaying theprocessing such as based on a prioritization determined by thecommunications management agent 162 and so forth. The dynamic handlingrules can enable delegating the processing to another device or systemand/or delaying processing by providing an immediate response thatindicates that the communications management agent 162 will process theinformation for a delivery determination at a later time.

In one or more embodiments, the communications management agents 162 canutilize scheduling data and/or presence data to process the incomingmessages, such as updating a user's calendar automatically with theincoming messages or determining a user is present in a car andadjusting a navigation system of the car based on incoming messages. Inone or more embodiments, the messages can be analyzed, including viaparsing engines and/or natural language engines, to determine a subjectmatter of the messages and/or summarize the messages. In one or moreembodiments, the communications management agents 162 can analyze theincoming messages and respond to the sender prior to delivering theincoming messages to the recipient, such as sending a response thatrequests additional information from the sender based on a determinationthat the recipient will need more information to make a decisionassociated with the incoming message.

The monitored behavior or other information associated with therecipient and/or the user for making determinations as to processing ofthe incoming messages can vary and can be obtained in a number ofdifferent ways, including in real-time or in an offline process. Forexample, the communications management agents 162 can obtain biometricdata associated with the recipient and/or sender. For instance, thebiometric data can be data associated with heart rate, blood pressure,respiratory rate and so forth. This biometric data can be used in anumber of different ways by the communications management agents 162,such as determining whether a user is engaged in a vigorous activitywhich may render them less likely to desire to receive an incomingmessage. On the other hand, similar information can be indicative of theuser feeling concerned or anxious about an event which may render themmore likely to desire to receive an incoming message. The biometric datacan be used alone or with other information (e.g., scheduling and/orpresence data) to estimate or predict an activity that the user may beengaged in which can then be used as part of the determination as todelivering an incoming message to the user. The biometric data can beobtained from a variety of sources, including wirelessly from sensorsconnected to or otherwise in communication with the user. As an example,the user may be exercising utilizing a wireless heart rate monitor.Wireless signals from the heart rate monitor can be monitored by acommunication device of the user, such as a mobile phone, andtransmitted to the communications management agent 162.

The monitored information can be associated with time and/or locationdata of the user, including scheduling data and/or presence data. Forexample, the communication management data 162 can actively monitor acalendar of the user for scheduling data and can actively monitorelectronic billing information of the user to detect purchases that areindicative of time or location commitments of the user. For instance, acredit card bill may indicate that the user has purchased tickets to afootball game in Kansas City. The communications management agent 162can determine the time of the football game and estimate that the userwill need to travel to Kansas City during a particular time frame. Theparticular time frame for travel can be further estimated based on othertime and/or location commitments for the user, such as based on acalendar notice that the user has a meeting in Chicago on the day beforethe football game. The communications management agents 162 can alsointeract with the user to verify or otherwise determine the estimatedtime frame for travel. In one embodiment, the communications managementagent 162 can determine an estimated time frame for travel prior torequesting a verification of the travel schedule from the user. Byknowing that the user is travelling during a particular time period, thecommunications management agent 162 can apply handling rules so thatincoming messages are processed as desired by the user during travel,such as a user who desires only to receive emails when travelling or auser that desires only to receive voice mail messages limited to family.

The monitored information can be associated with a measure of the valueof the relationship between the sender and the recipient. This measurecan be an adjustable or otherwise changing measurement, such as based onincreased positive interaction between the user and sender which resultsin an increase in the value or an increased negative interaction betweenthe user and sender which results in a decrease in the value. Thecommunications management agent 162 can determine the increase inpositive interaction or determine the increase in negative interactionin a number of different ways, including monitoring the number ofcommunications between the parties, analyzing the content ofcommunications between parties to determine if the communications arepositive or negative (e.g., determining a subject matter for a messagethat is indicative of a problem arising between the parties),determining social interaction between the parties such as detectingthat the parties attended a baseball game together, determining anavoidance by one of the parties towards the other such as fromcancelling social interaction events between the parties, and so forth.In one or more embodiments, the relationship value can be adjusted bythe user. For instance, the communications management agent 162 candetermine a relationship value based on information such as socialinteraction, number of communications between the parties and content ofcommunications. The relationship value can then be presented to the userto verify or otherwise adjust the value.

In one or more embodiments, the relationship value can be a confidentialvalue that is known by the communications management agent 162 and theuser, but is not shared with the other user. In other embodiments, therelationship value can be shared with the other users and theircorresponding communications management agents, including sharingchanges in the relationship values as they occur so that a deteriorationor an improvement of a relationship between users can be indicated. Therelationship value can also be determined based on other factors, suchas whether the other user is a family or friend, or whether the otheruser is a work colleague.

The determination of processing of the messages can be based on otherfactors, including a mindshare associated with the user that isindicative of a preferred time to talk to the user, the sender's socialconnectivity, a balance sheet with the sender (e.g., the sender has anobligation to me), sender assigned metadata, reputation of the sender,determined nature of the content (e.g., humorous, urgent, etc.), size ofcontent, a content novelty index, supplementary sender-based agentinformation (e.g., subject matter or urgency), and/or the message spokenexplicitly by the sender.

The monitored information can be utilized in combination with thevirtual task list 163 of the user which is maintained by the server 130and/or the communications management agent 162. The virtual task list163 can be a list of tasks that need to be performed and which areassociated with the particular user. The virtual task list 163 can beadjusted based on the monitored information and/or incomingcommunications. For instance, the communications management agent 162can analyze incoming communications to determine if the communicationsrequest or require the recipient to perform a task. In one or moreembodiments, the task can be any type of task, including buying milk onthe way home from work or picking up a family member before going towork.

The virtual task list 163 can be adjusted based on the ability of theuser to perform the task. For example, if the communications managementagent 162 receives a message from the user's family requesting that theuser buy milk on the way home from work but the communicationsmanagement agent 162 determines that the user is working overtime pastthe store closing time then the user can be deemed unavailable forperforming the task. The communications management agent 162 can utilizethe monitored behavior information to determine that the user isscheduled to work overtime, such as an analysis of the content of amessage from the user's supervisor requesting the overtime work and/ordetermining that the user has accepted the request (e.g., via an emailor voice mail message provided by the user to the supervisor). In one ormore embodiments, the communications management agent 162 can send anotice to the user to remind the user that he is unable to perform thetask and/or can send a message to the user's family (e.g., via anothercommunications management agent associated with the family) advising thefamily of the user's unavailability to perform the task. As describedabove, the various monitored information of the user can be utilized indetermining whether a task should be added to the virtual task list 163of the user, including scheduling data, presence data, relationshipvalue associated with the other user requesting the task, and so forth.

In one or more embodiments, the communications management agent 162 candetermine a time, a message format and at least one first communicationdevice for delivering a message and/or a summary of the message to theuser based on the monitored behavior information and/or an analysis ofthe content of the message. The communications management agent 162 canthen adjust the virtual task list 163 for the user based on the analysisof the content. Other behavior information associated with another usercan then be obtained, such as presence data, scheduling data and/orprior interaction data (e.g., information associated with tasks from avirtual task list 163 of the other user that were performed by theuser). In this example, a task message can be sent to the communicationsmanagement agent 162 of the other user according to the obtained otherbehavior information. The task message can request performance by theother user of the task from the user's virtual task list 163. In thisway, users can perform tasks for one another that are established andcoordinated between the communications management agents 162 and wherethe coordination of the tasks can be based on a history of each partyperforming the tasks so that a balance of task performance betweenparties can be achieved and maintained.

In one or more embodiments, the assignment of a task can requireverification by one or both of the requestor and the party assigned thetask. In other embodiments, the communications management agent 162 canrefuse to accept a request for a task assignment from anothercommunications management agent (e.g., because of an imbalance in thenumber of tasks that have been performed by the requestor upon behalf ofthe potential assignee). In this example, the communications managementagent 162 that refuses the task assignment can respond by advising ofthe imbalance in the distribution of tasks, can respond with no reasonfor the refusal to accept the task and/or can respond with analternative reason for refusal to accept the task. In one or moreembodiments, the communications management agent 162 can monitor for theperformance of the task by the other user and can adjust the priorinteraction data according to a completion of the task. The monitoringof the completion of the task can be based on various information,including information obtained from other sources that are associatedwith the task. For instance, presence data can be obtained for a firstco-worker where the task of taking the first co-worker to work wasassigned from the user's virtual task list 163 to a second co-worker.

In one or more embodiments, the virtual task list 163 can be co-managedbetween the user and the communications management agent 162 and/orbetween two or more communications management agents for associatedusers (e.g., a family virtual task list that is co-managed bycommunications management agents 162 that correspond to the members ofthe family). In this example, the co-management can be subject toconflict rules, such as prioritization of tasks originated by theparents over tasks originated by the child or prioritization based on asubject matter of the task (e.g., a task to pick up the child fromschool is a higher priority than a task to buy milk from the store).

In one or more embodiments, the virtual task list 163 can be utilized inthe determination of processing incoming messages. For instance, alength of a virtual task list 163 or the importance of tasks on thevirtual task list may be indicative of a desire by the user not toimmediately receive messages (e.g., no voice calls) other than highpriority messages from family or friends. In one or more embodiments,the communications management agent 162 can analyze the content of thetasks and determine incoming messages that are necessary or helpful tocompleting one or more of the tasks in order to determine whether theincoming messages should be immediately delivered to the user, such asvia a voice call or text message, or should be stored for later accessby the user, such as via a voice mail message or an email message. Inone or more embodiments, the expected time to do a task from the virtualtask list as compared to the actual time can be considered in thedetermination of processing incoming images.

In one or more embodiments, the communications management agents canprovide a platform for exchanging monitored information of the users ora portion thereof. The exchange of such information can be a limited ornegotiated process, such as a first user agreeing to provide onlypresence data in exchange for the presence data of a second user. Inother embodiments, the exchange can be unlimited, such as including allinformation for both the first and second users in the informationexchange. The information exchange can be a one-time event or recurringevent each time a message is to be delivered between the parties or theinformation exchange can be a continuous event, such as periodicallyexchanging all or selected portions of the monitored informationaccording to a pre-determined schedule. The negotiation can be performedbetween the communications management agents 162 and/or between theusers.

In one or more embodiments, portions of the monitored information can befiltered by the communications management agent 162 based on quality.For instance, presence data can be compared by the communicationsmanagement agent 162 to scheduling data to detect conflicts, and otherinformation can be obtained or otherwise analyzed to determine theaccuracy of the data, such as analyzing content data from messages orthe communications management agent requesting verification from theuser.

In one or more embodiments, filtering of the monitored behaviorinformation can be performed by any number of devices, including devicesother than server 130 such as the portable communication devices, anSTB, and so forth. The filtering can be performed based on varioustechniques, including comparison of similar data received from differentsources (e.g., presence data from two different devices indicating aconflict in presence), statistical and/or historical analysis of themonitored behavior information to determine accuracy, and so forth.

In one embodiment, the software functions 164 can include a firstcommunication device 116 retrieving monitored information from anothercommunication device, and providing the monitored information to thecommunications management agent 162 of the server 130. In this example,the communications management agent 130 does not need to be directlyreceiving the monitored information from each of the devices associatedwith the user, but rather can be in communication with a first portionof devices associated with a user that are themselves in communicationwith a second portion of devices associated with a user. In this manner,the efficiency of the dataflow between the devices associated with theuser and the communications management agent 162 can be improved.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication system 200employing IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network architecture tofacilitate the combined services of circuit-switched and packet-switchedsystems. Communication system 200 can be overlaid or operably coupledwith communication system 100 as another representative embodiment ofcommunication system 100.

The communication system 200 can provide for the gathering by thecommunications management agents 162 of the monitored informationassociated with each of the users and the determination of theprocessing of incoming messages based on the monitored information.Communication system 200 enables exchange of the monitored informationand/or the incoming messages via packet-switched and/or circuit-switchedcommunication technologies.

Communication system 200 can comprise a Home Subscriber Server (HSS)240, a tElephone NUmber Mapping (ENUM) server 230, and other commonnetwork elements of an IMS network 250. The IMS network 250 canestablish communications between IMS-compliant communication devices(CDs) 201, 202, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) CDs 203, 205,and combinations thereof by way of a Media Gateway Control Function(MGCF) 220 coupled to a PSTN network 260. The MGCF 220 need not be usedwhen a communication session involves IMS CD to IMS CD communications. Acommunication session involving at least one PSTN CD may utilize theMGCF 220.

IMS CDs 201, 202 can register with the IMS network 250 by contacting aProxy Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF) which communicates with aninterrogating CSCF (I-CSCF), which in turn, communicates with a ServingCSCF (S-CSCF) to register the CDs with the HSS 240. To initiate acommunication session between CDs, an originating IMS CD 201 can submita Session Initiation Protocol (SIP INVITE) message to an originatingP-CSCF 204 which communicates with a corresponding originating S-CSCF206. The originating S-CSCF 206 can submit the SIP INVITE message to oneor more application servers (ASs) 217 that can provide a variety ofservices to IMS subscribers.

For example, the application servers 217 can be used to performoriginating call feature treatment functions on the calling party numberreceived by the originating S-CSCF 206 in the SIP INVITE message.Originating treatment functions can include determining whether thecalling party number has international calling services, call IDblocking, calling name blocking, 7-digit dialing, and/or is requestingspecial telephony features (e.g., *72 forward calls, *73 cancel callforwarding, *67 for caller ID blocking, and so on). Based on initialfilter criteria (iFCs) in a subscriber profile associated with a CD, oneor more application servers may be invoked to provide various calloriginating feature services.

Additionally, the originating S-CSCF 206 can submit queries to the ENUMsystem 230 to translate an E.164 telephone number in the SIP INVITEmessage to a SIP Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) if the terminatingcommunication device is IMS-compliant. The SIP URI can be used by anInterrogating CSCF (I-CSCF) 207 to submit a query to the HSS 240 toidentify a terminating S-CSCF 214 associated with a terminating IMS CDsuch as reference 202. Once identified, the I-CSCF 207 can submit theSIP INVITE message to the terminating S-CSCF 214. The terminating S-CSCF214 can then identify a terminating P-CSCF 216 associated with theterminating CD 202. The P-CSCF 216 may then signal the CD 202 toestablish Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication services,thereby enabling the calling and called parties to engage in voiceand/or data communications. Based on the iFCs in the subscriber profile,one or more application servers may be invoked to provide various callterminating feature services, such as call forwarding, do not disturb,music tones, simultaneous ringing, sequential ringing, etc.

In some instances the aforementioned communication process issymmetrical. Accordingly, the terms “originating” and “terminating” inFIG. 2 may be interchangeable. It is further noted that communicationsystem 200 can be adapted to support video conferencing. In addition,communication system 200 can be adapted to provide the IMS CDs 201, 202with the multimedia and Internet services of communication system 100 ofFIG. 1, including the monitored information gathered from various deviceassociated with the user. It is further contemplated that the CDs ofFIG. 2 can operate as wireline and/or wireless devices. For example, theCDs of FIG. 2 can be communicatively coupled to a cellular base station117 such as shown in FIG. 1, a femtocell (not shown), a WiFi router, aDECT base unit, or another suitable wireless access unit to establishcommunications with the IMS network 250 of FIG. 2.

If the terminating communication device is instead a PSTN CD such as CD203 or CD 205 (in instances where the cellular phone only supportscircuit-switched voice communications), the ENUM system 230 can respondwith an unsuccessful address resolution which can cause the originatingS-CSCF 206 to forward the call to the MGCF 220 via a Breakout GatewayControl Function (BGCF) 219. The MGCF 220 can then initiate the call tothe terminating PSTN CD over the PSTN network 260 to enable the callingand called parties to engage in voice and/or data communications.

It is further appreciated that the CDs of FIG. 2 can operate as wirelineor wireless devices. Although not shown, the CDs of FIG. 2 can becommunicatively coupled to a cellular base station 221, a femtocell, aWiFi router, a DECT base unit, or another suitable wireless access unitto establish communications with the IMS network 250 of FIG. 2. Thecellular access base station 121 can operate according to commonwireless access protocols such as Global System for Mobile (GSM), CodeDivision Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA),Universal Mobile Telecommunications (UMTS), World interoperability forMicrowave (WiMAX), Software Defined Radio (SDR), Long Term Evolution(LTE), and so on. Other wireless network technologies can be utilized bythe present disclosure. Accordingly, multiple wireline and wirelesscommunication technologies are usable with the CDs of FIG. 2.

It is further contemplated that cellular phones supporting LTE cansupport packet-switched voice and packet-switched data communicationsand thus may operate as IMS-compliant mobile devices. In thisembodiment, the cellular base station 221 may communicate directly withthe IMS network 250.

Communication system 200 can include or otherwise be coupled with server130 of FIG. 1 for purposes similar to those described above. It isfurther contemplated by the present disclosure that the communicationsmanagement agents 162 can communicate with one or more components ofsystem 200, including the HSS 240 and the S-CSCF 206, for gathering atleast a portion of the monitored behavior information (e.g., presencedata). It is further contemplated that the server 130 can be an integralpart of the application server(s) 217. FIG. 3 depicts an illustrativeembodiment of a web portal 302 which can be hosted by serverapplications operating from the computing devices 130 of thecommunication system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1. The web portal 302 canbe used for managing services of communication systems 100-200. A webpage of the web portal 302 can be accessed by a Uniform Resource Locator(URL) with an Internet browser such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer™,Mozilla's Firefox™, Apple's Safari™, or Google's Chrome™ using anInternet-capable communication device such as those described in FIGS.1-2. The web portal 302 can be configured, for example, to access amedia processor 106 and services managed thereby such as a Digital VideoRecorder (DVR), a Video on Demand (VoD) catalog, an ElectronicProgramming Guide (EPG), or a personal catalog (such as personal videos,pictures, audio recordings, etc.) stored at the media processor 106. Theweb portal 302 can also be used for provisioning the communicationsmanagement agents 162 with devices, software and other sources that canbe monitored for obtaining the monitored information upon which thedynamic message handling rules are maintained and revised. The webportal 302 can also be used for provisioning IMS services describedearlier, provisioning Internet services, provisioning cellular phoneservices, and so on.

It is contemplated by the present disclosure that the web portal 302 canfurther be utilized to manage and provision software applications162-164 of the devices of FIGS. 1-2, respectively, as described earlier.In one or more embodiments, the web portal 302 can be used forinteraction between a user and the user's communications managementagent 162. For instance, a user can adjust a virtual task list, set userpreferences to be utilized in combination with the dynamic messagehandling rules, update a relationship value, or provide user feedback onan accuracy rating provided by another communications management agentvia the web portal 302.

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a communication device 400.Communication device 400 can serve in whole or in part as anillustrative embodiment of the devices depicted in FIGS. 1-2. Thecommunication device 400 can comprise a wireline and/or wirelesstransceiver 402 (herein transceiver 402), a user interface (UI) 404, apower supply 414, a location receiver 416, and a controller 406 formanaging operations thereof. The transceiver 402 can support short-rangeor long-range wireless access technologies such as Bluetooth, WiFi,Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT), or cellularcommunication technologies, just to mention a few. Cellular technologiescan include, for example, CDMA-1X, UMTS/HSDPA, GSM/GPRS, TDMA/EDGE,EV/DO, WiMAX, SDR, LTE, as well as other next generation wirelesscommunication technologies as they arise. The transceiver 402 can alsobe adapted to support circuit-switched wireline access technologies(such as PSTN), packet-switched wireline access technologies (such asTCPIP, VoIP, etc.), and combinations thereof.

The UI 404 can include a depressible or touch-sensitive keypad 408 witha navigation mechanism such as a roller ball, a joystick, a mouse, or anavigation disk for manipulating operations of the communication device400. The keypad 408 can be an integral part of a housing assembly of thecommunication device 400 or an independent device operably coupledthereto by a tethered wireline interface (such as a USB cable) or awireless interface supporting for example Bluetooth. The keypad 408 canrepresent a numeric keypad commonly used by phones, and/or a Qwertykeypad with alphanumeric keys. The UI 404 can further include a display410 such as monochrome or color LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), OLED(Organic Light Emitting Diode) or other suitable display technology forconveying images to an end user of the communication device 400. In anembodiment where the display 410 is touch-sensitive, a portion or all ofthe keypad 408 can be presented by way of the display 410 withnavigation features.

The UI 404 can also include an audio system 412 that utilizes commonaudio technology for conveying low volume audio (such as audio heardonly in the proximity of a human ear) and high volume audio (such asspeakerphone for hands free operation). The audio system 412 can furtherinclude a microphone for receiving audible signals of an end user. Theaudio system 412 can also be used for voice recognition applications.The UI 404 can further include an image sensor 413 such as a chargedcoupled device (CCD) camera for capturing still or moving images.

The power supply 414 can utilize common power management technologiessuch as replaceable and rechargeable batteries, supply regulationtechnologies, and charging system technologies for supplying energy tothe components of the communication device 400 to facilitate long-rangeor short-range portable applications. The location receiver 416 canutilize common location technology such as a global positioning system(GPS) receiver capable of assisted GPS for identifying a location of thecommunication device 400 based on signals generated by a constellationof GPS satellites, thereby facilitating common location services such asnavigation.

The communication device 400 can use the transceiver 402 to alsodetermine a proximity to a cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth, or other wirelessaccess points by common sensing techniques such as utilizing a receivedsignal strength indicator (RSSI) and/or a signal time of arrival (TOA)or time of flight (TOF). The controller 406 can utilize computingtechnologies such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP),and/or a video processor with associated storage memory such as Flash,ROM, RAM, SRAM, DRAM or other storage technologies.

In one or more embodiments, the communication device 400 is adapted todetect and/or communicate with a sensor device 475 which generates userdata, such as biometric data of a user. The communication between device400 and device 475 can utilize wired and/or wireless communication.

The communication device 400 can be adapted to perform the functions162-164 of the server 130, media processor 106, the media devices 108,and/or the portable communication devices 116 of FIG. 1, as well as theIMS CDs 201-202 and/or PSTN CDs 203-205 of FIG. 2. It will beappreciated that the communication device 400 can also represent othercommon devices that can operate in communication systems 100-200 ofFIGS. 1-2 such as a gaming console and a media player.

In one or more embodiments, the communication device 400 can obtain andstore monitored information from other communication devices associatedwith the user. The stored monitored information, as well as monitoredinformation generated by the device 400 can then be provided to thecommunications management agent 162 for the user associated with thedevice 400.

Illustrative embodiments of methods that can operate in portions of thecommunication device of FIG. 4 are described below.

FIG. 5 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a system 500 for managingthe delivery of incoming messages. System 500 can be overlaid oroperably coupled to communication systems 100-200 as anotherrepresentative embodiment of communication systems 100-200.

In this exemplary embodiment, a user 501 has various communicationdevices including media processor 506, media device 508 and portabledevice 516. The user 501 has a communications management agent 162implemented on a server 530 within network 518 that obtains monitoredbehavior information 525 associated with the user 501. The monitoredbehavior information can be various forms of data, such as the datadescribed with respect to system 100 of FIG. 1, and can include presencedata, scheduling data, biometric data, communications history data,relationship value data with respect to other users, length and urgencyof presently pending virtual task lists, and so forth. Thecommunications management agent 162 also maintains a virtual task list163 that is associated with the user 501. System 500 also includes auser 502 having various communication devices including media processor506′, media device 508′ and portable device 516′. The user 502 has acommunications management agent 162′ implemented on a server 530′ withinnetwork 518 that obtains monitored behavior information 525′ associatedwith the user 502. The communications management agent 162′ alsomaintains a virtual task list 163′ that is associated with the user 502.It should be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that anynumber of users, servers, communications managements agents, mediaprocessors, media devices and/or portable devices can be utilized, whichcan be in other configurations, including sharing of servers and/orsharing of communications management agents. It should be furtherunderstood that other types of devices can be utilized in system 500,including other devices associated with the users 501, 502 for obtainingmonitored behavior information and/or for delivering incoming messages,as well as other types of network elements for facilitatingcommunications between the various devices and through the network 518,including routers, switches, DSLAMs, and so forth.

In this exemplary embodiment, a message 550A can be originated by theuser 502, such as at a portable communication device 516′ or othercommunication device, where the message is directed to user 501. Themessage 550A can be of various formats as previously described herein,including but not limited to voice communications, emails, textmessages, video message and so forth. The message 550A can also be anindirect communication such as a posting on a website that is directlyintended for user 501 (e.g., posting on a social network page of theuser 501 or posting on a website with information indicative of theposting being directed to user 501). In one embodiment, the message 550Acan be a posting on a website that is indirectly intended for the user501, such as posting information that would be of interest to the user501, where the communications management agent 162′ and/or thecommunications management agent 162 monitors for such postings (e.g.,based on the posters, the website and/or the content posted) anddetermines whether the posting or a message representative of theposting should be delivered or otherwise directed to the user 501.

In one or more embodiments, the message 550A can be originated without adesignation of a recipient communication device and/or without adesignation of a message format. For instance, the user 502 can input avoice recording into the portable device 516′ and identificationinformation associated with the user 501 can be utilized by thecommunications management agent 162′ for selecting a recipientcommunication device of the user 501 and/or a format for the message. Inone or more embodiments, the message 550A without a designation of therecipient communication device and/or without the designation of themessage format can be provided from the communications management agent162′ to the communications management agent 162 for the communicationsmanagement agent 162 (i.e., the agent for the recipient user 501) todetermine the recipient communication device and/or the message format.The identification information can be directly provided by the user 502such as a voice input of the name of user 501 in response to a promptfor the intended recipient, or can be indirectly provided by the user502 such as determined by the communications management agent 162′ froman analysis of the content of the message.

In one or more embodiments, the sender's communications management agent162′ can designate a recipient communication device and/or designate amessage format, which may or may not be the recipient device and/ormessage format that is utilized in the delivery of the message 550A tothe user 502. For example, the designation of the recipient deviceand/or message format can be a suggestion. In another example, one orboth of the designation of the recipient device and the message formatcan be contingent designations where the user 502 intends on the message550A being delivered only if the designated recipient device and/or themessage format are utilized in the delivery.

In one or more embodiments, the message 550A provided by thecommunications management agent 162′ to the communications managementagent 162 can be representative of the originated communication from theuser 502. For example, the user 502 can input a voice recording intoportable device 516′ that is intended for delivery to user 501. Thecommunications management agent can generate a message which isrepresentative of the voice recording. In one or more embodiments, therepresentative message can be a summary of the voice recording, such asbased on a content analysis of the voice recording performed by thecommunications management agent 162′ using voice recognition, naturallanguage engines and/or parsing engines. In one or more embodiments, therepresentative message can be an enhanced version of the recording whichincludes all of the content of the voice recording and includesadditional information generated by the communications management agent162′, such as subject matter headings, links to content referenced inthe voice recording, identification information for individualsreferenced in the voice recordings, and so forth. The additionalinformation can be generated by the communications management agent 162′using various techniques, including analysis of the content of the voicerecording (e.g., using voice recognition, natural language enginesand/or parsing engines), analysis of other communications that aredetermined to be associated with the voice recording, and/or adetermination (e.g., by the communications management agent 162′) ofexpectations of the user 501 as to information that should be includedin the message. For instance, the communications management agent 162′can determine based on previous communications exchanged between theusers 501, 502 via the communications agents 162, 162′, that the user501 desires messages to include email addresses for any individualidentified in a message. This determination can be made by thecommunications management agent 162′ based on a history of messageexchanges in which the communications management agent 162 requestedsuch information. It should be further understood that while the exampledescribes use of a voice recording, the messages can be originated invarious forms, including text, video and so forth.

In system 500, the original message 550A, a representative messagegenerated by the communications management agent 162′ and/or othercommunications can be exchanged between the communications managementagent 162′ and the communications management agent 162, as indicated byarrow 550B. In one or more embodiments, a portion of the communicationsexchange 550B between the communications management agents 162, 162′ canbe performed to obtain a revised version of the message and/or to obtaindata (indicated by arrow 575B) that is used by one or both of the agents162, 162′ for processing the dynamic message handling rules and/or forrevising or otherwise reformatting the message.

As indicated by arrows 575A, data can be provided to or otherwiseobtained by the communications management agents 162, 162′ forprocessing the dynamic message handling rules. In one or moreembodiments, all or a portion of the communications exchange 550B can beperformed automatically between the communications management agents162, 162′ without user intervention. The amount and type of dataexchanged between the communications management agents 162, 162′,including the amount and type of the monitored behavior information 525can vary. In one or more embodiments, no information, limitedinformation or all information from the monitored behavior information525 can be exchanged between the communications management agents 162,162′. The determination of the amount and type of the monitored behaviorinformation 525 can be based on a number of factors, as well asdifferent decision makers. For example, a user may designate informationwhich can and cannot be shared with other communications managementagents. In another embodiment, the sharing of the monitored behaviorinformation can be determined by one of the communications managementagents based on a prior history of sharing with another communicationsmanagement agent and/or a prior history by the other communicationsmanagement agent maintaining the confidentiality of the sharedinformation.

In one or more embodiments, the exchange of the monitored behaviorinformation 525 and/or 525′ can be performed with controls on thedistribution of the information, such as permitting use of the monitoredinformation by the two communications management agents 162 and 162′that have exchanged all or a portion of the information but prohibitingfurther distribution of the information to other communicationsmanagement agents. In one or more embodiments, the negotiation for theexchange of monitored information can be based on future or pastexchanges of such information. For instance, the communicationsmanagement agent 162 can agree to presently provide the monitoredbehavior information 525 of the user 501 to the communicationsmanagement agent 162′ if the communications management agent 162′ agreesto exchange monitored information in the future (in the event that theuser 501 seeks to send a message to the user 502′ in the future).

In system 500, the communications management agent 162 can receive themessage 550A or a representative message generated by the communicationsmanagement agent 162′ and can apply the dynamic message handling rulesto determine a process for delivery of the message to the user 501,including timing, message format, and/or recipient communication device.The dynamic message handling rules can be applied by the communicationsmanagement agent 162 utilizing the monitored behavior information 525,all or a portion of the monitored behavior information 525′ and/or otherfactors. In one or more embodiments, the communications management agent162 can analyze the content of the message and can utilize that analysis(e.g., a determination of a subject matter of the content) for applyingthe dynamic message handling rules, including in combination with themonitored behavior information. In one or more embodiments, thecommunications management agent 162 can determine or otherwise predictthe particular activity that the user 501 is currently engaged in basedon the monitored behavior information 525 and can determine whether theuser 501 would desire to receive a message 550C that pertains to thedetermined subject matter. The message 550C can be the message that wasreceived from the communications management agent 162′ or can be amessage representative of the received message, including a summarizedversion (e.g., based on the content analysis performed by agent 162) oran enhanced version that includes additional information that thecommunications management agent has determined the user 501 would desireto be included in the message. In one or more embodiments, thecommunications management agent 162 can determine a message format(e.g., text, voice, or video) and/or a recipient communication devicebased on the monitored behavior information 525, 525′ and/or the contentanalysis.

As an example, the communications management agent 162 can receive amessage from communications management agent 162′ which is in the formof a video conference message and that includes a subject headingentitled business proposal. The communications management agent 162 cananalyze the content of the message to determine that the messagepertains to an offer to retain a first entity to perform a landscapingcontract. The communications management agent 162 can access themonitored behavior information 525 which includes scheduling data from acalendar of user 501 that indicates that the user 501 is presently in ameeting and the subject heading for the meeting is landscape work. Thecommunications management agent 162 can access other data of themonitored behavior information, such as presence data of otherindividuals, content analysis of previous messages received by the user501 that are associated with the landscape contract and so forth, todetermine that the user 501 is presently meeting with a second entityregarding the landscaping contract. Based on this information, thecommunications management agent 162 can determine that the user 501would desire to receive the message that includes the offer from thefirst entity and would desire to receive it in a format that is subtle,such as a summary text message, in order to have the information in-handduring the discussions with the competitor second entity. In thisexample, the communications management agent 162 can determine detailsof the current activity of the user 501, reformat the message from avideo conference message to a text message that summarizes the offerfrom the first entity, and deliver the text message to the portabledevice 516 of the user 501. For instance, the communications managementagent 162 can determine that the user 501 desires only to see thedetails of the first entity's offer such as a text message reading:“$25,000 annual contract bid by the first entity.”

In one or more embodiments, importance ratings can be generated andassigned to messages by either or both of the communications managementagents 162, 162′. The agent importance ratings can be included withimportance ratings provided by the user 502 that originated the messageor the recipient user 502 that is forwarding the message to anotheruser. The use of importance ratings generated by the communicationsmanagement agents 162 and/or 162′ enables a credibility system to beimplemented so that agents and their users can have a betterunderstanding of the accuracy of the importance ratings.

In one or more embodiments, the communications management agent 162′ canreceive the message 550A and can perform a content analysis (e.g., usingvoice recognition, parsing engines and/or natural language engines) todetermine a first importance rating for the message. The determinationof the first importance ratings can be based on other informationincluding the monitored behavior information 525′ of the user 502.

As an example, the communications management agent 162′ can determinefrom the content analysis and the monitored behavior information 525′(e.g., scheduling data, presence data, prior message content, biometricdata and so forth) that the user 502 desires to receive a response tothe message which is an invitation to meet before the end of the day tofinalize the landscape contract described above with respect to theearlier example. For the user 502, it is important to receive theresponse before the end of the day because the user 502 is scheduled tobegin work on another landscaping bid the following day with anotherpotential client and which the user 502 will not be bidding for if theoffer to user 501 is agreed upon. The communications management agent162′ may place a high priority importance rating on message 550A andprovide it to the communications management agent 162. The particularscale and indicia of the importance rating can vary and can be anumerical scale (e.g., 1 to 10) or a verbal scale (e.g., low, medium,high, very high, read immediately).

Continuing with this example, the communications management agent 162can utilize the first importance rating in its application of thedynamic message handling rules in combination with other criteria,including the monitored behavior information 525, any monitored behaviorinformation 525′ that was received from the agent 162′, an analysis ofthe content of the message performed by the agent 162, and so forth.Based on the first importance rating, the monitored behavior information525, 525′, and/or the content analysis, the communications managementagent 162 can determine a time, format and/or recipient communicationdevice for delivery of message 550C to the user 501.

In one or more embodiments, the communications management agent 162 cangenerate a second importance rating for the received message or aderivative message thereof that is intended to be sent to another party.For example, the message may need to be forwarded to co-workers of theuser 501 to keep a record of the negotiation process but the urgency ofdelivery of the message is lower so the second importance rating may bedesignated as low.

As an example of a second importance rating for a derivative message andcontinuing with the landscaping contract example described above, thecommunications management agent 162 can receive the message from thecommunications management agent 162′ with an importance rating of a highpriority. The communications management agent 162′ may agree that themessage, as it pertains to delivery to the user 501 and based on othercriteria including the content analysis and the monitored information525 and/or 525′, is of high priority so that the message is processed bythe agent 162′ for delivery to the user 501 accordingly (e.g., a textmessage delivered immediately to the user 501 via the portable device516 with periodic follow-up reminders in the absence of a response fromthe user 501). The communications management agent 162′ may alsodetermine from the content analysis of the message and scheduling dataof the user 501 that the user was scheduled to buy milk at the storewhen leaving work that evening per the request of the family of the user501. The communications management agent 162 can determine that thefamily of the user 501 is a party related to the message and should benotified that the user 501 will be buying the milk at a later thanexpected time due to the potential meeting to finalize the contract. Thecommunications management agent 162 can further determine the secondimportance rating for the derivative message to be delivered to one ormore communications devices of the family of the user 501 (e.g., via afamily communications management agent). The second importance ratingcan be determined by the communications management agent 162 to be oflower priority because the user 501 will still have time to purchase themilk but at a later time so the derivative message provided by thecommunications management agent 162 can include a medium priorityrating.

In one or more embodiments, the communications management agents 162,162′ can maintain and adjust virtual task lists 163 for the users 501,502, respectively. Adjustment of the virtual task lists can be based ona number of factors including the monitored behavior information 525,525′, content analysis of incoming messages, user interactions with thecommunications management agents, user preferences and so forth. Thevirtual task lists 163 can also be used by the communications managementagents 162, 162′ for delegating or otherwise requesting other users toperforms tasks. In one or more embodiments, interaction data associatedwith the users that pertains to a prior history of tasks performed foreach other, the timeliness of the completion of the tasks, the qualityof performance of the task and so forth may be utilized to manage thevirtual task list 163 and/or to provide requests to other users forperformance of a task.

As an example, the communications management agents 162, 162′ canutilize monitored behavior 525 and/or 525′ to generate or otherwisedetermine task requests. Scheduling data and/or presence data of themonitored behavior 525, 525′ can facilitate generating task requests,such as allowing communications management agent 162 to know that user502 is presently located within a short distance of a grocery store andthat scheduling data of the calendar of user 502 indicates that user 502is not scheduled for anything this evening. In this example, thecommunications management agent 162 can determine from monitoredbehavior 525 (e.g., scheduling data and content analysis of messagesrelated to work that needs to be performed by user 501 that evening)that it would be difficult for the user 501 to pick up milk on the wayhome, which is a task on virtual task list 163, because the user 501will be leaving work very late. The communications management agent 162can suggest to the user 501 that a task request be sent to user 502 viacommunications management agent 162′ due in part to interaction datathat indicates that the user 501 has recently performed several tasks onbehalf of the user 502. In this example, upon approval of the taskrequest by the user 501, the communications management agent 162 canforward the task request to the communications management agent 162′.Upon completion of the task, which can be monitored by thecommunications management agent 162, the virtual task list 163 can beadjusted to remove the task of purchasing milk.

FIG. 6 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a system 600 for managingthe delivery of incoming messages utilizing an importance rating system.System 600 can be overlaid or operably coupled to communication systems100, 200 and/or 500 as another representative embodiment ofcommunication systems 100, 200 and/or 500.

In this exemplary embodiment, communications management agents 162, 162′can be implemented on the servers 530, 530′ within the network 518.Importance ratings can be generated as described with respect to system500 of FIG. 5, including by the communications management agents 162,162′ based on content analysis, monitored behavior information, and soforth.

Communications exchanges 550 can occur between the communicationsmanagement agents 162, 162′, including transmitting messages,transmitting task requests, transmitting queries for furtherinformation, transmitting importance ratings, and so forth. Dataexchange 575 including all or a portion of monitored behaviorinformation, can occur between the communications management agents 162,162′, that is used by one or both of the agents 162, 162′ for processingthe dynamic message handling rules and/or for revising or otherwisereformatting the message.

In one or more embodiments, rating feedback information 650, 650′ can bemaintained by the communications management agents 162, 162′. The ratingfeedback information 650, 650′ can be generated based on determinations,made by communications management agents and/or users, of the accuracyof importance ratings generated by other communications managementagents. The rating feedback information can then be utilized inassessing the accuracy of a particular importance rating and includingthe accuracy determination as part of the application of the dynamicmessage handling rules to process delivery of the message, such as atime, format and recipient communication device for delivery of themessage.

As an example, communications management agent 162 can receive a messagefrom communications management agent 162′ that includes an importancerating of a high priority. A content analysis of the message performedby the communications management agent 162 can indicate that the subjectmatter of the message is attending a baseball game that is scheduledmore than eight months away. The rating feedback information 650 caninclude one or more first accuracy determinations made by thecommunications management agent 162 for one or more past importanceratings generated by the communications management agent 162′ formessages received by the agent 162 that may or may not be related to thepresent message. The rating feedback information 650 can include one ormore second accuracy determinations made by other communicationsmanagement agents for one or more past importance ratings generated bythe communications management agent 162′ for messages received by theother communications management agents that may or may not be related tothe present message. The communications management agent can analyze thefirst and/or second accuracy determinations to determine or otherwisepredict the accuracy of the presently received importance rating for thepresently received message. In one or more embodiments, the analysis ofthe first and/or second accuracy determinations can include correlatingaccuracy determinations with subject matter of particular messages todetect patterns, such as detecting a tendency for the communicationsmanagement agent 162′ to generate a high importance rating for messagesrelated to attending social events. In this example, the communicationsmanagement agent 162 can deem the accuracy of the “high priority”importance rating to be of poor accuracy based on the analysis describedabove, which may be performed in combination with other techniques,including the content analysis, review of monitored behavior of the usersending the message and so forth. The poor accuracy determination can bebased on input from the recipient user, which may be used in addition toor in place of the accuracy determination made by the communicationsmanagement agent 162.

The poor accuracy determination can be added to the rating feedbackinformation 650 for future accuracy determinations associated withfuture messages and importance ratings received from the communicationsmanagement agent 162′. In one or more embodiments, the poor accuracydetermination by the communications management agent 162 can beforwarded to other communications management agents (e.g., correspondingto friends, family, co-workers, and so forth) for storage in theircorresponding rating feedback information so that the othercommunications management agents can utilize the poor accuracydetermination in their own accuracy determinations for importanceratings for future messages received from the communications managementagent 162′.

In one or more embodiments, disputes over accuracy determinations can beresolved utilizing a ratings arbitrator 635 implemented using computerinstructions executed by a server 630. The ratings arbitrator 635 canreceive (as indicated by dataflow 675) pertinent accuracy informationfrom the communications management agents 162, 162′ that are involved inthe dispute over the accuracy of the importance rating. The pertinentaccuracy information can include the importance rating, rating feedbackinformation, content analysis, monitored behavior of either or both ofthe users associated with communications management agents 162, 162′,and so forth. In one or more embodiments, explanations as to why theimportance rating is or is not accurate can be received from thecommunications management agents 162, 162′ (e.g., generated by the usersand/or generated by the agents 162, 162′) and can be analyzed by theratings arbitrator 635 (e.g., using parsing and/or natural languageengines). The ratings arbitrator 635 can determine whether or not theimportance rating was accurate and can issue a notice to thecommunications management agents 162, 162′, as well as othercommunications management agents that have received an indication thatthe agent 162′ issued an inaccurate importance rating. The notice caninclude information, such as a determination of the accuracy and/or amore accurate importance rating that should have been used.

Continuing with the example described above for the “high priority”importance rating for the message to attend a baseball game that wasdeemed as of poor accuracy, the ratings arbitrator 635 may receivepertinent accuracy information from the communications management agent162′ indicating that tickets for the baseball game are almost sold out.This information may not have been available to the communicationsmanagement agent 162 when it determined that the “high priority”importance rating was of poor accuracy. The ratings arbitrator 635 maydetermine from this pertinent accuracy information that the importancerating assigned to the message by the communications management agent162′ was warranted because the tickets would be sold out and therecipient user associated with the communications management agent had astrong desire to attend the baseball game.

In one or more embodiments, the ratings arbitrator can be anothercommunications management agent(s) that is requested to act a neutralparty to determine the accuracy of the importance rating.

FIG. 7 depicts an illustrative method 700 that operates in portions ofthe devices, systems and/or methods of FIGS. 1-6. Method 700 can beginat 702 in which a message is received or otherwise obtained by acommunications management agent associated with the sender of themessage. At 704, monitored behavior information can be obtained orotherwise accessed. The monitored behavior information can be associatedwith the sender of the message and/or the intended recipient of themessage. At 706, the content of the message can be analyzed, such asthrough use of parsing engines, natural language engines, rhetoricallibraries and/or other components and techniques to automaticallyanalyze a message to determine a subject matter and details of themessage.

At 708, an importance rating for the message can be determined based onthe monitored behavior information and the content analysis. At 710, themessage and the importance rating can be provided to anothercommunications management agent that is associated with the intendedrecipient of the message. The message provided to the othercommunications management agent can be in the same format as wasoriginated by the user (e.g., a text message) or can be in a convertedformat (e.g., a digital voice message that summarizes the originalmessage). The reformatting can be performed by the communicationsmanagement agent based on the monitored behavior information and/or thecontent analysis. While one or more of the exemplary embodimentsdescribe agent-to-agent communications as a means for deliveringuser-to-user communications, the exemplary embodiments can also includeuse of a single communications management agent that delivers messagesbetween users, such as where a recipient user does not have acommunications management agent.

FIG. 8 depicts an illustrative method 800 that operates in portions ofthe devices, systems and/or methods of FIGS. 1-7. Method 800 can beginat 802 in which a message and an importance rating is received fromanother communications management agent. At 804, the monitored behaviorinformation can be obtained or otherwise accessed. The monitoredbehavior information can be associated with the sender of the messageand/or the intended recipient of the message. At 806, the content of themessage can be analyzed, such as through use of parsing engines, naturallanguage engines, rhetorical libraries and/or other components andtechniques to automatically analyze a message to determine a subjectmatter and details of the message.

At 808, rating feedback information that is associated with thecommunications management agent that generated the importance rating canbe obtained or otherwise accessed. At 810, an accuracy of the importancerating can be determined based on the rating feedback information, thecontent analysis and/or the obtained monitored behavior information.

At 812, the message can be processed according to the dynamic messagehandling rules for delivery to the intended recipient which is the userassociated with the communications management agent performing method800 in whole or in part. The rules can include utilizing the monitoredbehavior information, the content analysis and/or the importance ratingto determine a time, format and recipient communication device fordelivery of the message.

FIG. 9 depicts an illustrative method 900 that operates in portions ofthe devices, systems and/or methods of FIGS. 1-8. Method 900 can beginat 902 in which a message is received or otherwise obtained by acommunications management agent associated with the recipient of themessage. At 904, monitored behavior information can be obtained orotherwise accessed. The monitored behavior information can be associatedwith the sender of the message and/or the intended recipient of themessage. At 906, the content of the message can be analyzed, such asthrough use of parsing engines, natural language engines, rhetoricallibraries and/or other components and techniques to automaticallyanalyze a message to determine a subject matter and details of themessage.

At 908, a virtual task list of the recipient of the message can beadjusted based on the content of the message that indicates the taskthat needs to be performed. The indication of the ask can be a directrequest by the sender for performance of the task or can be the resultof a synthesis of the message that results in a determination that thetask needs to be completed based on information described in themessage. The adjustment of the virtual task list can be performed basedon other factors, including the monitored behavior information (e.g.,scheduling data, presence data, relationship between task requestor andrecipient, and so forth), other tasks on the virtual task list, and soforth

At 910, monitored behavior information can be obtained or otherwiseaccessed where the information is associated with other users that canpotentially perform the task associated with the message. At 912, a taskmessage or request can be provided to a select one of the other usersbased on the obtained monitored behavior information. For example, themonitored behavior information including presence data and schedulingdata may indicate that the user's brother is in the vicinity of agrocery store and the task message may be provided to a communicationsmanagement agent of the user's brother to purchase milk.

Upon reviewing the aforementioned embodiments, it would be evident to anartisan with ordinary skill in the art that said embodiments can bemodified, reduced, or enhanced without departing from the scope andspirit of the claims described below. In one or more embodiments, amessage can be originated from a first communication device withoutspecifying a communication device of a second user to receive themessage. In this example, the communications management agent(s) candetermine the recipient device for the second user based on themonitored behavior information associated with one or both of the firstand second users.

In one or more embodiments, an accuracy dispute notice associated with arating feedback can be provided to a ratings accuracy server to initiatea second accuracy determination by the ratings accuracy server for animportance rating of a first message from a first communicationsmanagement agent, where the second accuracy determination is accessibleby at least some of a group of servers in analyzing the accuracy of thesecond importance rating for a second message provided by the secondcommunications management agent.

In one or more embodiments, a determination of the accuracy of animportance rating generated by a first communications management agentassociated with a first user can be based in whole or in part on userfeedback originated at a second communication device of a second userthat is the recipient of the message that includes the importancerating.

In one or more embodiments, content of a message can be analyzed togenerate message information representative of the message and one ormore related parties can be determined based on the analysis of thecontent. In this example, a second importance rating can be determinedfor the message. The second message information and the secondimportance rating can be provided to another communications managementagent associated with the one or more related parties for determining atime and/or a message format for delivery of the second messageinformation to a communication device(s) of the one or more relatedparties.

In one or more embodiments, a communications management agent canconsider the successful delivery of a past message to a communicationdevice of an intended recipient within a threshold time period, as afactor in applying the dynamic message handling rules (e.g., determininga time, format and/or device for delivery of the message).

In one or more embodiments, voice recognition can be utilized by asender's communications management agent and/or a recipient'scommunications management agent in adjusting a format for delivery of amessage.

In one or more embodiments, the communications management agents cangenerate avatars for the interaction with the corresponding user and/orinteraction with other users. For example, the avatar can be presentedat a communication device of a user to obtain verification of monitoredbehavior, authorization for assignment of a virtual task, preference fordelivery of a message, and so forth. The form of the avatar can vary andcan be based on the monitored behavior information, such as providing ahumorous avatar when a determination is made that the user would be morereceptive to such as avatar. In one or more embodiments, the avatar candevelop over time as the user changes, where the changes in the user aredetermined by the communications management agent based on the monitoredbehavior information.

In one or more embodiments, additional dimensions of task lists mayexist alongside the main task list, such as if the receiving agentrecognizes that its single-dimensional rating is low but likely to bevery inaccurate and other attributes suggest it may be important, it maybe placed in a queue or list that enjoys quick and lightweight attentionfrom the recipient. This can be subject to use limitations and/or therecipient's tolerance for such interruptions, but can be useful forautomating the learning and tuning the rating algorithms and couldprovide a defense against missing important messages.

FIG. 10 depicts an exemplary diagrammatic representation of a machine orcontroller circuit in the form of a computer system 1000 within which aset of instructions, when executed, may cause the machine to perform anyone or more of the methods discussed above. One or more instances of themachine can operate, for example, as the server 130, 530, the mediaprocessor 106, 506, the media device 108, 508, the portablecommunication devices 116, 516, or combinations thereof as describedabove. In some embodiments, the machine may be connected (e.g., using anetwork) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine mayoperate in the capacity of a server or a client user machine inserver-client user network environment, or as a peer machine in apeer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment.

The machine may comprise a server computer, a client user computer, apersonal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a smart phone, a laptop computer, adesktop computer, a control system, a network router, switch or bridge,or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. It will beunderstood that a communication device of the present disclosureincludes broadly any electronic device that provides voice, video ordata communication. Further, while a single machine is illustrated, theterm “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection of machinesthat individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) ofinstructions to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein.

The computer system 1000 may include a processor 1002 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU, or both), a mainmemory 1004 and a static memory 1006, which communicate with each othervia a bus 1008. The computer system 1000 may further include a videodisplay unit 1010 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a flat panel,or a solid state display. The computer system 1000 may include an inputdevice 1012 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 1014 (e.g., amouse), a disk drive unit 1016, a signal generation device 1018 (e.g., aspeaker or remote control) and a network interface device 1020.

The disk drive unit 1016 may include a tangible computer-readablestorage medium 1022 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions(e.g., software 1024) embodying any one or more of the methods orfunctions described herein, including those methods illustrated above.The instructions 1024 may also reside, completely or at least partially,within the main memory 1004, the static memory 1006, and/or within theprocessor 1002 during execution thereof by the computer system 1000. Themain memory 1004 and the processor 1002 also may constitute tangiblecomputer-readable storage media.

Dedicated hardware implementations including, but not limited to,application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arrays andother hardware devices can likewise be constructed to implement themethods described herein. Applications that may include the apparatusand systems of various embodiments broadly include a variety ofelectronic and computer systems. Some embodiments implement functions intwo or more specific interconnected hardware modules or devices withrelated control and data signals communicated between and through themodules, or as portions of an application-specific integrated circuit.Thus, the example system is applicable to software, firmware, andhardware implementations.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, themethods described herein are intended for operation as software programsrunning on a computer processor. Furthermore, software implementationscan include, but not limited to, distributed processing orcomponent/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtualmachine processing can also be constructed to implement the methodsdescribed herein.

While the tangible computer-readable storage medium 1022 is shown in anexample embodiment to be a single medium, the term “tangiblecomputer-readable storage medium” should be taken to include a singlemedium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database,and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets ofinstructions. The term “tangible computer-readable storage medium” shallalso be taken to include any non-transitory medium that is capable ofstoring or encoding a set of instructions for execution by the machineand that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methods ofthe present disclosure.

The term “tangible computer-readable storage medium” shall accordinglybe taken to include, but not be limited to: solid-state memories such asa memory card or other package that houses one or more read-only(non-volatile) memories, random access memories, or other re-writable(volatile) memories, a magneto-optical or optical medium such as a diskor tape, or other tangible media which can be used to store information.Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include any one or more ofa tangible computer-readable storage medium, as listed herein andincluding art-recognized equivalents and successor media, in which thesoftware implementations herein are stored.

Although the present specification describes components and functionsimplemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standardsand protocols, the disclosure is not limited to such standards andprotocols. Each of the standards for Internet and other packet switchednetwork transmission (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, HTTP) representexamples of the state of the art. Such standards are from time-to-timesuperseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentiallythe same functions. Wireless standards for device detection (e.g.,RFID), short-range communications (e.g., Bluetooth, WiFi, Zigbee), andlong-range communications (e.g., WiMAX, GSM, CDMA) are contemplated foruse by computer system 1000.

The illustrations of embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of various embodiments,and they are not intended to serve as a complete description of all theelements and features of apparatus and systems that might make use ofthe structures described herein. Many other embodiments will be apparentto those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Otherembodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structuraland logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing fromthe scope of this disclosure. Figures are also merely representationaland may not be drawn to scale. Certain proportions thereof may beexaggerated, while others may be minimized. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated toachieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodimentsshown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations orvariations of various embodiments. Combinations of the aboveembodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein,will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the abovedescription.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided with the understanding thatit will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of theclaims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can beseen that various features are grouped together in a single embodimentfor the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method ofdisclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that theclaimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited ineach claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subjectmatter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment.Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the DetailedDescription, with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimedsubject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A server comprising: a memory to storeinstructions; and a controller circuit coupled to the memory, whereinthe controller circuit, responsive to executing the instructions,performs operations of a first communications management agent, theoperations comprising: determining an importance rating of a messageassociated with first and second users, wherein the importance rating isdetermined based on a subject matter of the message and monitored userbehavior; providing the message and the importance rating to a secondcommunications management agent that is associated with the second userand that distributes the message to a second communication device of thesecond user based on the importance rating; and receiving a ratingfeedback based on a determination of an accuracy of the importancerating for the message.
 2. The server of claim 1, wherein thedetermination of the accuracy of the importance rating is based on userfeedback that originates at the second communication device.
 3. Theserver of claim 1, wherein the message originates from a firstcommunication device of the first user without specifying acommunication device of the second user to receive the message, whereinthe second communications management agent determines a time and messageformat for receipt of the message by the second communication device ofthe second user based on the importance rating, and wherein themonitored user behavior is associated with the first and second users.4. The server of claim 1, wherein the operations comprise: providing asecond message to a third communications management agent that isassociated with a third user, wherein the rating feedback is received bythe third communications management agent and is utilized by the thirdcommunications management agent in analyzing an accuracy of a secondimportance rating for the second message provided by the controllercircuit.
 5. The server of claim 1, wherein the operations comprise:collecting the monitored user behavior from presence data and schedulingdata; and receiving the message from a first communication device of thefirst user, wherein the message is directed from the first user to thesecond user.
 6. The server of claim 1, wherein the operations compriseanalyzing content of the message to determine the subject matter of themessage, and wherein the monitored user behavior includes monitoringinteraction of equipment of the first user with a social networkwebsite.
 7. The server of claim 1, wherein the operations compriseapplying voice recognition to the message to generate a text message. 8.The server of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:providing an accuracy dispute notice associated with the rating feedbackto a ratings accuracy server to initiate a second accuracy determinationby the ratings accuracy server for the importance rating of the message.9. The server of claim 8, wherein the second accuracy determination isaccessible by a group of communications management agents in analyzingaccuracy of a second importance rating for a second message provided bythe controller circuit.
 10. A method comprising: obtaining, by a systemincluding a processor, an importance rating for a message, wherein theimportance rating is determined by a communications management agentbased on an analysis of content of the message, wherein the importancerating is an estimate of a priority for the message; obtaining, by thesystem, rating feedback information associated with a group ofimportance ratings generated by the communications management agent; anddetermining, by the system, a rating accuracy of the importance ratingfor the message based on the rating feedback information, wherein therating accuracy is an evaluation of whether the importance ratingaccurately estimates the priority for the message.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the rating feedback information includes user inputfrom equipment of message recipients, wherein the message originatesfrom a first communication device of a first user, wherein the messageis directed to a second user, and further comprising: providing messageinformation representative of the message to a second communicationdevice of the second user according to the importance rating and therating accuracy.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:monitoring, by the system, behavior information associated with thesecond user, wherein the behavior information includes scheduling data;and determining, by the system, a time and a message format forproviding the message to the second communication device of the seconduser based on the importance rating and the rating accuracy, wherein thetime and the message format is determined based on the behaviorinformation.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the behaviorinformation includes presence data.
 14. The method of claim 10, whereinthe message originates from a first communication device of a first userdirected to a second user without specifying a communication device ofthe second user to receive the message
 15. The method of claim 10,comprising: analyzing the content of the message; generating secondmessage information representative of the message based on the analysisof the content; determining a related party based on the analysis of thecontent; determining a second importance rating for the message; andproviding the second message information and the second importancerating to another communications management agent associated with therelated party for determining a time and a message format for deliveryof the second message information to a communication device of therelated party.
 16. The method of claim 10, comprising generating arating feedback for the message based on user input, wherein the ratingfeedback is accessible by other communications management agents inanalyzing an accuracy of a second importance rating for a second messageassociated with the communications management agent.
 17. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the message originates from a posting on a socialnetwork website.
 18. A computer readable storage device comprisingcomputer instructions which, responsive to being executed by a servercause the server to perform operations of a first communicationsmanagement agent, the operations comprising: determining an importancerating of a message associated with first and second users, wherein theimportance rating is determined based on a subject matter of the messageand monitored user behavior; providing the message and the importancerating to a second communications management agent that is associatedwith the second user and that distributes the message to a secondcommunication device of the second user based on the importance rating;and receiving a rating feedback based on a determination of an accuracyof the importance rating for the message.
 19. The computer readablestorage device of claim 18, wherein the determination of the accuracy ofthe importance rating is based on user feedback that originates at thesecond communication device.
 20. The computer readable storage device ofclaim 18, wherein the message originates from a first communicationdevice of the first user without specifying a communication device ofthe second user to receive the message, and wherein the monitored userbehavior is associated with the first and second users.